Stopover ecology of neotropical migrants in central Veracruz, México
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Available information on the ecology of neotropical migrants during the winter season and especially during migration is far behind the existing knowledge of birds during the breeding season. This paper presents a stopover ecology case study. We document the occurrence of species, outline the prevailing weather patterns during spring and fall migration seasons, and present an analysis of the landscape and land use indices from central Veracruz, México, to better understand the relationship between birds and some of the variables that model their migration strategies. The central Veracruz region has a large altitudinal gradient and habitat types vary from coastal to alpine. Forty-four localities of central Veracruz were extensively surveyed between 1991-2003, using field techniques such as migration counts, mist nets, and fixed radius point counts. Prevailing weather during migration seasons consists of fronts called 'Nortes' in the fall and 'Suradas' in the spring. The area has a high diversity of neotropical migrants with 239 species recorded, representing over 44 percent of the regional avifauna. Migrant bird species decrease in both quantity and relative proportion of local avifaunas as elevation increases. Lowland habitats are of conservation concern, while highland habitats are better preserved. Migrants seem to first occupy lowland habitats and then spread out to locations with a more specific habitat type and altitude. The relative importance of habitat patches in this fragmented landscape is believed to be influenced by weather regimes and vary temporally. We make specific recommendations on future stopover ecology research with immediate applications and recommendations for conservation measures.